The Grenada gazette., 1887-09-17
LEGALLY ADJUDGED DEAD.
Cases Under the Law Rotating to Di'ap-
pearanccs and Absentees.

The law has presumed him dead and
wound up his earthly affairs can bet-
ter be imagined than described, but
the courts are often called upon to do
just such thing. As men are prone
to occasionally disappear mysteriously
and remain disappeared for an in.
definite time. the law has wisely inter-
posed to protect those at home from
such eccentricities. Section 279 of the
law relative to administration Of es-
tates provides ''that if any person,
who has heretofore been, or now is, q
resident Of this State, has heretofore
gone from and not returned to this
State, or shall hereafter 60 from and
not return to this State for seven con-
secutive years. he shall be presumed to
be dead unless proof be made that he
was alive within that time; and if let
ters testamentary or Of administration
shall have been or shall here after be
granted upon the estate of such per-
son, all payments Of money and de.
livery of property to the executor or
administrator of such person by any OF
the debtors Of such person or by those
having charge, control or custody Of
property and effects to which such
person may be in any wise entitled,
shall be bar to all actions or claims
Of such absent person, his heirs or as.
signs. against the person or persons so
paying or delivering thereof
Ave have had several such admins.
trations in the Probate Court" re.
marked Mr.. Wagner to reporter
Mr.. Wagner has presided over the
records of the Probate Court for over
twenty years, and can gather in his
recollection about all of the interest
ing events of that tribunal during that
time. He then referred the reporter
to the records in the Shaw case. Mrs.
Isabella Shaw took out letters of ad-
ministration on the estate Of James
Shaw, who had been absent from the
State for eight years. All the proc
esses incident to the winding up of
dead mans estate were gone. through
with, the Administrative gave bond,
the property was appraised, sold and
the proceeds ordered divided among
the heirs. Mr.. Shaw, who was per-
ambulating somewhere on this num-
dane sphere, got word, in some way.
of what was going on, and turned up
in St. Louis just as the proceeds OF
his effects were about to be dis.
tributed. He visited the probate clerks
office and examined the papers; he had
been adjudged dead by the court, and
there was no mistake about it, as the
records showed. He also expressed
himself as satisfied with the accurate
way the Administrative had managed
the estate. she having paid his debts
and all expenses, save his funeral ex-
penscs. He, however, subsequently.
in propria persona, applied to have
that portion of his estate, which had
been ordered distributed. turned over
to himself. He sets out in his petition
for that purpose that he had been alb.
sent from Ne State for eight years, and
under the laws of the State was pre-
sumably dead, yet he desired to make
proof that he was not dead. and further
that he has always been alive during
the years of his absence from the State,
and is now alive and in good health.
The court allowed him to make the
proofs he desired, and the proceeds OF
his estate, instead Of going to his heirs,
were turned over to him.
Another case equally as interesting
was that of Mrs Sarah Conroy, who
took out letters on the estate of her
husband, John. The latter disappeared
and was gone seven years, when his
wife had him adjudged dead and took
out letters on the estate. Before she
had concluded the administration she
married another man. and is now
living on the homestead that belonged
to her former husband. She came very
near making miscalculation. how
ever, as under the law the presumably
dead man has the right to materialiae
ut any time before the distribution Of
his effects to his heirs and claim his
property. It appears that Conroy. who
was in Texas. saw a ''final settlement"
notice in one of the ST. Louis papers,
in which Sarah Conroy. as admins
tratrix of the estate of John Conroy,
gave all persons having demands
against the estate notice to present the
same for allowance or be forever
barred. Mr. Conroy wrote to St. Louis
to ascertain what ii all meant, and the
letter was turned over to the attorney
Of Mrs. Conroy, who wrote him ex-
planning the situation. charging him
with having abandoned his wife. and
informing him that he would be ar
rested, the offense being criminal
one. Mr. Conroy was never heard Of
afterward, but II he had como to St.
Louis he would have gotten his prop
erty back.
Another case equally as peculiar was
that Of Martin Mann, whose estate was
administered upon by W. B. Thomp-
son. Mann disappeared and was new.
or hoard If and his pstafn was divided